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I'm reposting from another thread, but interestingly, I heard Petros Papadakis, who I think is the most informative announcer for pac-10 football, saying on the radio a couple of days ago that he was stunned by the announcement that Barkley is going to start. He thinks Corp outplayed Barkley in practice and thinks that SC coaches and media are "protecting" Barkley for reasons he cannot understand. It's his theory that Corp is more hurt than SC is letting on. He was saying that while Barkley has a cannon of an arm, the guy makes some bad throws and was comparing him to a Cutler-type QB. He was saying that there is a disconnect between what he seeing at the practices and how SC coaches are describing Barkley. He cited an example of when Barkley throws an interception, the coaches say "we are going to have to go back to the tape and see what happened," and he was just saying that he's never seen another QB get that type of benifit of the doubt. He was pointing out that young players, regardless of position, have a tendency to turn the ball over and from what he's seen, it's no different with Barkley.

Winning the turnover battle is a big part of SC's success and more turnovers from a young, gun-slinging QB could open the door for another Pac 10 team to get in there, especially this year. Of couse, SC manages to put it together year in, year out, so I'm not holding my breath for SC to falter this year.

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Wasn't Corp's injury a cracked fibula? If he's back from that after two weeks, there are definitely still going to be concerns.

And the turnover thing for USC hasn't been as critical the past few years because that defense doesn't generate the takeaways it once did. Now they just try to not give up the ball and see what happens.

Personally, I think Carroll is just realizing that he made a mistake of letting Booty start over Sanchez and is disappointed that he only got one year of Sanchez. He doesn't want to make the same mistake with Barkley when he knows Barkley will be better than Corp/Mustain (whether he's better now is the debate)

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I think Pete had to find a way to get Barkley on the field and Corp's injury probably accelerated it a bit. Ideally you probably bring him in before October like Georgia did with Stafford and then forget about it. Corp and Mustain cant hold this kid's kock in the big picture so it was a matter of time.

Recruiting a highly ranked player means pretty much you're going to play him right away or you could lose him or the next phenom to come along.

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I think Pete had to find a way to get Barkley on the field and Corp's injury probably accelerated it a bit. Ideally you probably bring him in before October like Georgia did with Stafford and then forget about it. Corp and Mustain cant hold this kid's kock in the big picture so it was a matter of time.

Recruiting a highly ranked player means pretty much you're going to play him right away or you could lose him or the next phenom to come along.

Corp and Mustain are no slouchin' nobodies.. Both of them were highly touted recruits and, in least Corp's case, comes from a very storied program here in Cali. Corp may not have the god-like arm like Barkley, but Barkley doesn't have the mobility of Corp by any stretch of the mind.

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Corp and Mustain are no slouchin' nobodies.. Both of them were highly touted recruits and, in least Corp's case, comes from a very storied program here in Cali. Corp may not have the god-like arm like Barkley, but Barkley doesn't have the mobility of Corp by any stretch of the mind.

I agree they arent slouches and could have pro careers so the cant hold the jock comment is probably excessive but they arent Matt Barkley who is a once a decade QB out of California.

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I feel some of you are setting yourselves up to be disappointed by Barkley, IMO.
When was the last time a TRUE freshman QB started in the Pac 10 and had a successful rookie campaign? By that I mean, 2:1 TDs to Int ratio, 2500+ yards passing??
Full disclosure, I've never seen the kid play, but I do recall that Carson Palmer was considered a near-bust until he had the benefit of being coached by Norm Chow for a season.

There are so many highly regarded prep QBs who enter the college ranks every year and don't live up to their press clippings.

I realize that college recruiting is much more 'scientific' than years past, and when a top prospect is evaluated, it's based on more than just game film.

Granted, the fact that Barkley comes from a HS program known nationally for producing top D1 QB talent, and that he's considered by his HS coach to be more advanced than his predecessors is a bonus, but really, what does that mean until he plays his first real game in college?

In recent memory, how many super prep QBs live up to their pre-college hype as freshman, let alone for their entire college careers??
Sanchez came close once he became a starter, Matt Stafford somewhat. IMO Jimmy Clausen hasn't, (although his soph year was very solid), who on paper appears to be every bit the blue prospect Barkley was coming out of HS.
Mitch Mustain was the #1 QB in his class, if not overall recruit, and he can't sniff the field.
Even Peyton Manning entered his freshman year at UT on 3rd string, but moved up do to injuries. His stats that year? 1141yds, 11/6.
If Barkley starts 12 games, I think it's reasonable to assume he should approach 2700 yards passing, that is, if he doesn't get pulled for throwing an inordinate amount of INTs.

As a casual Pac 10 fan, it's hard to imagine any USC recruit approaching what Matt Leinart did in three years at USC - averaged 3500 yds, 33 TDs, and threw 9, 6, and 8 INTS in three years as a starter.

Good luck, Mr. Barkley.

Comment

I feel some of you are setting yourselves up to be disappointed by Barkley, IMO.
When was the last time a TRUE freshman QB started in the Pac 10 and had a successful rookie campaign? By that I mean, 2:1 TDs to Int ratio, 2500+ yards passing??
Full disclosure, I've never seen the kid play, but I do recall that Carson Palmer was considered a near-bust until he had the benefit of being coached by Norm Chow for a season.

There are so many highly regarded prep QBs who enter the college ranks every year and don't live up to their press clippings.

I realize that college recruiting is much more 'scientific' than years past, and when a top prospect is evaluated, it's based on more than just game film.

Granted, the fact that Barkley comes from a HS program known nationally for producing top D1 QB talent, and that he's considered by his HS coach to be more advanced than his predecessors is a bonus, but really, what does that mean until he plays his first real game in college?

In recent memory, how many super prep QBs live up to their pre-college hype as freshman, let alone for their entire college careers??
Sanchez came close once he became a starter, Matt Stafford somewhat. IMO Jimmy Clausen hasn't, (although his soph year was very solid), who on paper appears to be every bit the blue prospect Barkley was coming out of HS.Mitch Mustain was the #1 QB in his class, if not overall recruit, and he can't sniff the field.
Even Peyton Manning entered his freshman year at UT on 3rd string, but moved up do to injuries. His stats that year? 1141yds, 11/6.
If Barkley starts 12 games, I think it's reasonable to assume he should approach 2700 yards passing, that is, if he doesn't get pulled for throwing an inordinate amount of INTs.

As a casual Pac 10 fan, it's hard to imagine any USC recruit approaching what Matt Leinart did in three years at USC - averaged 3500 yds, 33 TDs, and threw 9, 6, and 8 INTS in three years as a starter.

Comment

Rivals had Mustain ranked the #2 pro-style QB in 2006 behind Stafford, and their #10 prospect overall.
But Scout.com had Mustain ranked their #1 QB prospect and their #1 overall in '06.

USA Today named him their offensive player of the year, and he was the 2005-06 National Gatorade Player of the Year.

The point remains that things don't always break your way in college simply because you're the next once-in-a-(fill in the blank) can't miss, blue chip recruit.

He was playing really well for a freshman down at Arkansas until Houston Nutt decided to bench him for Casey Dick(wtf?) for some reason. Real big head scratching decision as it cost them a chance at something bigger.